1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display method of windows in a system which can display multiwindows.
2. Related Background Art
In a computer system, an overlapped window method whereby the overlapping of windows is permitted is known as a display method of multiwindows in which different works can be executed in the respective windows.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a display state of windows by such an overlapped window method. In the diagram, a plurality of windows 11, 12, . . . are overlapped and displayed on a screen 20 so as to have a hierarchical structure. The window 11 of the uppermost layer is a window which is selected at present. The second window 12 a part of which is shielded by the first window 11 is displayed. Further, a third window 13 a part of which is shielded by the first and second windows 11 and 12 is also displayed. Although not displayed on the screen 20, the fourth and subsequent windows which are completely shielded by the first to third windows 11, 12, and 13 also exist. Each window is constructed by a title bar, a frame to specify the boundary of the window, a work area, and the like. The changing operation to change the size and position of each window and the selecting operation of a window which is not selected at present are defined.
As shown in FIG. 6, the windows which are displayed on the screen 20 by the overlapped window method have a hierarchical structure. Each window has not only its internal data D but also a pointer P.sub.1 for a child window which belongs to the window and a pointer P.sub.2 for the windows of the lower hierarchical layers. On the screen 20, in FIG. 6, the window (for example, W11) located in the higher layer is displayed in a state such that it shields the window (for instance, W12) located in the lower layer. In the hierarchical layer, in the diagram, the window (for example, W21) located at a position on the rightmost side is displayed in a state such that it shields the window (for example, W11) located on the left side.
In the above conventional overlapped window method, when another larger window is perfectly overlapped on a certain window, in order to confirm and select the window existing under such a large window, it is necessary to execute either one of the operations of the following items shown below.
(1) The size and position of the window existing in the highest layer are changed, thereby setting a target window existing in a lowest layer portion can be confirmed by a visual sense on the screen. In this state, a cursor of a mouse is moved to the corresponding window portion and the operation such as to click a mouse desired operation button of the mouse or the like is executed and a proper window existing in the lower position, thereby selecting the window existing in the lowest layer portion.
(2) The windows displayed at present on the screen are sequentially selected by executing special operations. The above selecting operation is repeated until the target window is displayed in the uppermost layer.
(3) A list of the window names displayed at present on the screen is displayed on the screen by a special operation. The desired window name is selected from such a list and the window of the selected name is displayed in the uppermost layer of the screen.
However, in the conventional selecting works of the windows mentioned in the above items (1) to (3), according to the step (1), the selecting operations are complicated. According to the above item (2), when a number of windows exist on the screen, it is necessary to repeat a number of operations until a target window is displayed, so that the desired window cannot be quickly selected. According to the above item (3), the selecting operation must be performed on the basis of the name of window irrespective of the existing positions of the windows on the display screen, so that the selecting operation is not intuitive.